And now for something a little different...
I frequently link to great organizing blogs, since this is a blog about organizing. But today I have a more eclectic offering.
Back when I was a writer, before I started my organizing business, I was hooked on Freelance Success, a subscription-only website and newsletter for freelancers. I love it so much I still subscribe. It’s a fabulously generous and educational community full of smart and talented people.
One of Freelance Success’s subscribers, Michelle Rafter, proposed a May blog-a-thon, in which writers with blogs would commit to blogging every day for the month of May.
I’d already made that commitment (well, I commited to five, not seven, days a week), and piped up that it really is easier to blog daily than on an irregular basis. Michelle was kind enough to include me in the ranks of the May blog-a-thon bloggers.
So below is the list of the bloggers from the Freelance Success community who are blogging every day in May. Their topics range from food, to self-help, to the business of freelancing, to Laura Ingalls Wilder, to Canadian Lacrosse, to films to living frugally and much more.
If you have a little blog surfing time, I promise you’ll find some interesting stuff to read. Enjoy!
Don't forget -- postage rates go up today
It’s come: The day for which I’ve been stockpiling Forever stamps. First-class postage goes up to 42 cents today. The rate for an additional ounce stays the same at 17 cents, so a two-ounce letter will cost 59 cents to mail. In addition, the rate for a postcard goes up by a penny, to 27 cents.
Forever stamps are valued as of the day they’re sent. So if you purchased a Forever stamp at 41 cents, it’s worth 42 cents starting today. And it’s supposed to remain the first-class rate as postage increases.
Other changes in the postage rates are that Express Mail and Priroity Mail (except for Flat Rate) are now priced by distance as well as weight. That means the closer the destination, the less it costs to send.
In addition, the post office is offering some discounts for Priority Mail and Express Mail when process the mailing online, via their Click ‘N Ship program. So it’s not more only convenient, but less expensive to do it yourself at home. (Hint: A digital kitchen scale, like mine, makes a great postage scale.)
Yesterday, the postal service had a very user-friendly page explaining the changes in the rates. Today, it doesn’t seem t be there. But here’s a link to their Household Services page, which is pretty helpful.
Great publicity for the organizing profession!
Last night on the St. Louis NBC affiliate’s news broadcast there was a “cover story” called Decluttering Your Surroundings Could Help You Live a Better Life.
Two local organizers (and active members of NAPO St. Louis), Margie Andersohn and Denise Lee were interviewed for the story, along with a client of each. Celebrity organizer, Peter Walsh, author of the new book, Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat was also interviewed via satellite.
The story could not have been more positive. It outlined the benefits of getting organized (including losing weight, which is the basis of Walsh’s book) and included testimonials from clients. KDSK reporter Kay Quinn did a great job with it.
Denise and Margie were both excellent on camera. Very telegenic! I wanted to embed the video here, but I’m not able to bring it up on the TV station’s website when I click on it. If I figure that out, I’ll add it to this post.
The icing on the cake is that the article on KDSK’s website, linked above, includes links to NAPO, NAPO St. Louis, and the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization.
Brava, Margie and Denise!
The Time Timer
Are you familiar with the Time Timer? It’s a tool, often recommended for people with ADD, that gives a visual representation of the passage of time. When you turn the dial to the number of minutes you want to time (which are arranged counter-clockwise from the 12 o’clock position on the dial), the number of minutes to be timed is covered in red. As time elapses, the red area gets smaller. If that’s not clear, here’s a picture, taken from the Time Timer website:
The 8" Time Timer. It also comes in 3" and 12".
Anyway, my friend Geralin Thomas, organizer extraordinaire, recommended I buy the Time Timer and take it with me on assessments, because mine tend to be quite long (4+ hours). This way I can keep track of time and since I’m holding the 3-inch timer in my hand, the client can see too. (I explain about the timer when I start.)
I’ve started doing this and I love it! I not only find it helpful on assessments and hands-on organizing appointments, I also use it in my home to keep me on task. I’ve long used the count-down timer on my digital watch when I’m trying to take care of tasks or projects. But being able to glance at the Time Timer and see how much time I have left is very helpful. It feels like (and I actually don’t know anything about this) is uses a different part of the brain than looking at a digital countdown.
I love it so much that I’ve decided to spring for the wrist version, so I can keep it with me easily throughout the day. And I’m even looking into being a distributor.
One of my clients has purchased one and found it really helpful as well. She’s easily distracted and this timer has done a great job of keeping her on task.
If you (or a client) have trouble with the concept of time and could use a little “tangible time management” check it out. And let me know what you think!
How do you eat an elephant?
I’m going through one of those periods again where I completely empathize with my clients. I had a very busy March and April (I was out of town half the month of April) and now that I have a little time to breathe, I look around my house and think, “I need a professional organizer!” There are no shortage of wonderful organizers here in St. Louis I could hire for help, but I’m going to try to economize and do the work myself.
I got so overwhelmed the other day, looking at all the organizing projects opportunities around my house that I actually did an assessment on myself, filling out the action plan form I do for my clients.
So I now have a plan of action, but have I actually done anything? No. I’ve got a long list of business-related tasks as well that I haven’t completed.
This morning, as I was walking my dog, Kirby, I thought about how I can get past this approach avoidance. And I realized I need to do exactly what I advise my clients to do. Break the jobs down into small bites. And eat one bite at a time.
I think my timer’s going to come in handy here. I’m going to try to spend at least 15 minutes per day on one organizing project. That’s nothing. And I know that once I get the ball rolling, I’ll probably be spending larger chunks of time. But I also know that even if I spend only 15 minutes a day, the jobs will eventually get done.
Or maybe I’ll hire a professional organizer! Then I’ll have made a time and financial commitment to organizing and the job will get done more quickly.
Have you tried a coach?
I was never one for organized athletics as a young person. I was on the sixth-grade girls’ basketball team at Green Park Elementary, but that was the only time I ever was under the tutelage of an athletic coach. (I know, very impressive.)
But I am fortunate enough to have worked with a life coach for, gosh, four years now, perhaps longer. I just had a fantastic session with her today. My coach is Shannon Wilkinson, who uses a combination of Neuro-lingistic Programming (NLP) techniques along with hypnosis and her incredible innate coaching skills. She’s helped me in many ways, and I owe much of my success to her.
I’ve taken coaching training and I know that it’s a challenge to be a great coach. I offer coaching specifically about organizing. Shannon offers coaching about anything and everything. Her niche is working with women, like me, who own businesses or work for themselves and are trying to balance the challenges of having a great business and a great personal life.
If you haven’t tried using a coach, but if it piques your interest, please check out Shannon’s website. If you want to look at other coaches, one way to find a coach is through good old Google. (“Life coach” is a great term to search on.) Another is by checking out the site of the major coaching professional association, the International Coach Federation.
And just FYI, most coaches work over the phone (Shannon’s in Oregon, I’m in Missouri), so you needn’t find a coach in your geographic area.
Life is what you make it
On my way to a client’s house this morning, listening to NPR, I heard a story that made the hairs stand up on my neck. It was a story on Morning Edition about Larry Woodard, a Dallas, Texas, man who was falsely convicted of raping and murdering his girlfriend. He languished in prison for 27 years, all the while writing letters asserting his innocence and requesting re-investigation of the case. He refused to apologize for a crime he didn’t commit, even after being told if he did, he’d get parole.
Last week, Woodard was released from jail after DNA evidence proved he did not commit the rape. Current Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins is re-investigating many convictions, using the DNA evidence that Dallas has saved. Woodard is the 17th exoneration out of 40 re-examined cases.
Aside from the obvious travesty of justice (these stories are so heartbreaking), what gave me goosebumps was Mr. Woodard’s attitude about his situation.
No one would blame him for being angry or bitter. But he isn’t. Here’s what I heard on NPR (the text of the whole story is available here, including pdfs of his heart-rending letters from prison):
But for one innocent man, life is beginning anew after 27 years of waiting.
“Like an adventure,” Woodard says. “I mean, there’s so many different things to see, and I like people, and I like seeing different things and new things.”
Woodard doesn’t know how a cell phone works and has no inkling of Macintosh versus PC. He’s neither bitter nor angry, and he will not agree that those years in prison were for naught.
“Time is what you make of it,” he says. “You’re living no matter where you are. I think I came out pretty good. I think I won. I think I’m a winner.”
I so admire his amazing viewpoint. Our lives are our own to make what we will of them. Mr. Woodard is most definitely a winner, in that he actually was (finally) acquitted of a heinous crime.
He’s now 55 years old and his life is just beginning. With his incredible outlook on life, it certainly will only get better.
Next time I feel that something hasn’t gone my way, I’ll remember Mr. Woodard. If I can model my outlook on him, life will always be sweet.
